Barcelona

05/16/2008 Posted by berryimpressed

Tired of the same old sixth street scene? Then check out Barcelona. My friends and I recently visited the infamous sixth street only to bored with the same-old scene. It was then that we found this "diamond in the rough". We went on a Thursday night and had an excellent time. The bar had booked an excellent set of house DJ's and the atmosphere was alive with energy. People were dancing, drinking, and having a great time. The service was top notch even when the club was at its busiest. We ended up staying there for the rest of the night and having a great experience. The bartender hooked us up with a hokaah and we relaxed in the VIP which was also very cool. So if you're looking for a great place to be seen and have a good time. Check out this Bar. They have certainly earned my repeat business.

Pros: Great Music, Hookah Service, Atmosphere, Pretty People

11/12/2007 Posted by santiseptic

My main beef with this place is their false website advertising. I am a dork who found out about it from reviews on Citysearch. However, when you advertise $1 drinks on Sunday... people expect a drink to be a dollar. Imagine my surprise when my tab came back at $19 for a night's maintenance fee. $3 dollar drinks. Austin's wired. Update your site! Aside from frugal objections, the act they booked for that night was pretty bad. This band was front by the poorest man's Lenny Kravitz; he smartly chose not to announce his name nor the name of his band, so, I am forced to call him Penny Kravitz. The mic-check lasted a grueling hour; listening to versions of what sounded like Stone Temple Pilot tunes sung by the soberest Scott Weil. On one of their frequent band breaks, the lead guitarist spewed some nonsense about the smoking ordinance not applying to the "underground clubs'. Clubs under the ground don't apply. By his poor logic, the Sky Lounge would allow smoking because they are elevated above street level. They allow smoking either: because they are too new to have been fined yet or they do what all other Austin bars who look the other way on the issue do -- tell you it's your lookout and to pound sand if you are caught amber-glow handed. I'm boring myself so let's close with a statement of fact -- this bar tries to be Plush with dimly-lit bartops and 'moody' atmospheric lighting but, all said, they widened their aperture but didn't focus. The date went bad and you got stuck with the check. Spend your money on the honest, my Sunday bedroom rockers. References: False advertising on their frontpage: Sunday - $Dollar Sundays$ All night long - $1 ANYTHING IN THE HOUSE The place chill in Austin for all restaurant, bar & service industry drinkers! --Nevin

06/30/2007 Posted by pitcdbf10

This is kind of a cool place... very few like this in Austin, but quite prevalent in places like Chicago or NYC. Its a dance club, plays a lot of techno, with other beats going as the night gets older and people get drunker. Not much else to say, staff seemed fine - bouncer should take care not to upset people though less he get his teeth knocked out by some unfriendly customer... probably new to the job. atmosphere typical of this type club, but rare in Austin.

Pros: dance club, like big city clubs

Cons: none really

01/20/2007 Posted by charlesacosta

I've seen this bar/club since it's opening. In fact, I have held a private event at Barcelona during SXSW Film Festival. The space has a great energy about it. The music totally kicks through an incredible sound system. If you want to be in the throws of the music and dance, you hang out in the middle or back, if you want to take a break and sip on your favorite cocktail you sit at the front bar. It's so cool that you can see shadows of the Sixth street foot traffic through the ceiling of the front bar. Not to mention the "oh so cool" suggestive design behind the bar! In fact, if you look closely, you'll find many interesting designs that take suggestive forms throughout the place. Oh, and don't test the little red stones on end the inverted clear flower pots. Yes, they do pop off and Yes, the designer of the bar will become very irritated if he knows you screwed with his design! Oh, as for the previous comment by StephenSmith, I know that the staff is part of the experience of any bar, but don't let one bad apple sour the barrell. Just ask to speak to the manager next time. Everyone I've encountered at Barcelona are super cool.

11/09/2006 Posted by stephensmith

I always am apart of the Austin bar and club scene every weekend so people often ask me where to go or at least where I went last weekend. I tell them where I went and warn them not to go to Barcelona because of what happened, one night. Here is the story: Barcelona seemed alright at first glance. Crowd was young, mostly full of the college kids.Even though a little pricey, The bartenders appeared to know how to mix drinks. However one bartender really irked me last weekend to the point where I will never go back! After two hours of drinking and dancing and having a descent all around good time I sat down on a speaker near to dance floor. next to the bar, to catch my breath. After a few minutes one of the bartenders said to me, "Hey buddy you have had too much to drink why don't you step outside for a minute." Startled by what he had to say I questioned him on what he meant by that statement. He again motioned towards the door. I asked him what he thought he was doing. He responded that people who have had too much to drink are not allowed to stay in the bar. I told him that I wasn't drunk I was just resting. He said, "If Texas Alcohol Association had caught me 'sleeping' here the bar would get in trouble. I told him that I wasn't sleeping so there would be no problem. At that point he threatened to get security. I asked him how he would feel if he was in my shoes and that anyone could obviously tell I wasn't drunk if I could uphold a conversation like this one. He said, "I don't have time for arguing." I told him that he obviously had time for it because he had time to kick someone out of the bar. He said he was going to get security. I told him fine I will leave and go to a competitors bar and not only would I not come back again but neither would any of my friends. He didn't seem to care. After reflecting on that night and his response, I realized he was probably not the head bartender. Too bad.

Pros: Dancing

Cons: Bartender

09/01/2006 Posted by cl22

At Barcelona, when it's good it's incomparable. It depends mainly on the dj. The problem is that the strength of the drinks and skill and style of the dj fluxuate so you never know what you are going to get. I've gotten both the weakest and the strongest drinks at Barcelona, but rarely anything in the middle. The good thing is that it's located in the middle of sixth street and usually has no cover. So, you can just stop in and if it's bad, then you just leave. No harm done. Also, I'll sometimes go to the Library to get cheap long islands, then go there to dance. Great place to at least check out, if it's good you'll want to stay there all night.

04/27/2006 Posted by bigdizave

I like the fact that Barcelona is literary an underground club - you walk downstairs to it. It instantly adds a great feel to it. The dance music is usually good, varying from ON some nights, sorta-on on other nights and OFF THE HOOK AWESOME other nights. There's a different DJ on different nights and they usually play a mix of hip-hop, techno, and house music. It wish they'd play more trance music though. There's plenty of chill areas for non-dancers. This is a great bar for usual non-dancers to feel the vibe and decide to dance. You can come as you are at Barcelona, but I would recommend sexy dress.

Pros: non-pretentious, no/low cover, great vibe

Cons: # of bathrooms

03/08/2006 Posted by ihearthouse

The club is a little small and most of the time the djs are horrible but the drink are fantastic and moderatly priced for being on 6th street.

Pros: drinks

Cons: djs

02/22/2006 Posted by mosmeyer

My girlfriends and I love to go dancing at Barcelona. Such great music, a good value on the drinks and really nice (not to mention attractive!) people behind the bar. The whole place has a great vibe. And while you dont' really need to dress up to "fit in," the atmosphere just makes you want to show up looking your best. Don't miss this hidden gem on 6th St!

Pros: Great vibe

02/20/2006 Posted by groovingirl

Went out Sat. 2/18 for some fun. Barcelona provided none of that! On the good side were good, cheap drinks and impeccable service in picking up empty glasses. On the bad side was the terrible dj who was using the night as his scratching and mixing practice. It was not house, or dance music, or anything but Phil Collins and Def Leppard mixed badly and scratched sorta decently. On a cold night like it was, they needed music to get people dancing, not just laughing. Barcelona is off our list of places to go!

Pros: good drinks, cheap drinks, good service

Cons: bad music, sparse decor